Church-truck



(No Modem" l 11m-531,471. y Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

. 2 sheets-sheet 2..

1N. T. SHAW.

CHURCH TRUCK.

Patented Dec. 25

lull'l 41 (No Model.)

. UNITED STATES,

NoAH T..sHAw,

PATENT OEEICE.-

oEcoLUMBUs, AssIcNoR oE ONE-HALE To-oHAELE's E. PALMER, oF FRANKLIN` COUNTY, oHIo.

CHURCH-TRUCK.

sPEcIFrcArioN forming sert efv Lettere Patent Nevssnm, aetea December 25, 1894;

- Appiieetitn nea septemberzs, 1894. serial No. 524,5;97. (No model.)

V"To @ZZ 'whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NOAH T SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colum'- bus, in the county of Franklinand State of Ohio, have invented' anew and useful Improvement in Church-Trucks Convertible as Laying-Out and Pall Boards for Funeral-Diectors, of which thefollowing is a sp eciticaion. o

` For funeral directors use,I have produced a wheeled steel truss, adapted for attachment to laying-out boards, whereby the board can be used fork carrying the casket into and out of the church. The board is provided with caster supported legs and with appliances for laying out and cooling purposes, and to this board the wheeled truss canbe firmly attached in a few minutes as a supplemental support and forming a strong truck,upon` which' the Lto director'and his assistants can carry the casket into and out of the church, relieving the pall-bearers of this duty. The board like those in use is constructed of two hinged sections adapted to Vbe folded with the hinged legs as a cabinet; and thewheeled-truss, as a separate device, has provision for clamping and connectingit to the meeting-bars of the hinged sections when in use, and when so used supports the hinged ends of the table sections and serves to firmly clamp them together at the hinge. e The particulars of my improvements I will now describe in connection withthe accompanyin g drawings and will specifically set out my said improvements in the claims concluding this specication. Y

I Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 shows in vertical section the board as'used for laying out purposes. Fig. 2 shows theboard used as a church-truck. Fig. 3 shows the wheeledtruss as an attachable device used to convert the board into a church-truck. Fig. Llis a top view of the hinged head-section. Fig. 5 is a transverse section showing-the wheeled-trussframe clamped to the meeting-bars of the p board. Fig. 6 is aside view showing the pivoted' canopy post` in the recess of the frame. Fig; 7 is a detail sectional `view of the clamp of the truss-frame. Fig. 8 showsthe hinge of the board-sections;and Fig'. 9 shows details of the brace-joint.

'iiush with the surface of the frame.

The table is constructed of two frame sections l, l, connected by strong hinges 2 so that the sections and the hinges abut upon each other and give a rigid and strong joint when the sectionsI are extended for` use as seen in Fig.8. Each section hasaleg-frame 3, 3 which is hinged to the table-frames and adapted to be folded within the said sections wheni the latter are folded as a cabinet. Braces 4, 4 are hinged to the middle cross` bars of the table-sections and to cross-bars of the legs, to rmly support the latter when the table is used, the legs being supported against block 5, 5 on the inner sides of the frame-bars. TheV braces are jointed at 6, 6 so. as to allow them to be folded with ther legs and to form rigid struts when in use. One of these tablesections has an interior frame-section 7 hinged at its inner end at 8, 8 and is supported when 'raised by ratchet-arms 9, pivoted to the end of ,the table-section, to support the upper part of the body lying on the table in a raised position. I construct this interior hinged section with a longitudinal middle opening 10, to allow access to the under side of the back ofthe body to adjust the garments and to giveventilation.V Within this opening I fit a slide 11 so that it may be drawn out to form a head-rest, such extension rendering the board about a foot longer while the board itselfrnay have aV length of about six'feet. A screw 12 and slot 13 serve to limit Vthe movement of this slide. Each frame-section has a recess 14e formed in its top along the edge of the table as seen in Fig. 4 within which the canopy posts 15vare folded These recesses open into square corner sockets formed by angle corner-plates 16, and within these sockets the canopy-posts are confined by pivots 17 which pass through slots 18 in the ends of the posts so as to allow the posts to beV folded horizontally in the recesses, and to permit them to be pushed down vertically into the sockets to hold them in position when raised to support the canopy as seen in Fig. 6. This construction gives "the advantagesl vof folding the posts on the top of the table and of relieving the pivots 17 of all strain,

because 'when the posts are pushed fully down into their sockets they are firmly supported by the walls of the sockets. For this purpose the slots in the posts are of a length equal to the depth of the sockets.

The canopy supporting ends of the posts are provided with spring-sustained pins 19, which serve to engage and hold the canopy in place and to engage holes 20 at the inner ends of the table-recesses to hold the posts in place when folded.

To convert the table into a church-truck I provide a steel-Wheeled-truss, adapted for attachment to and removal from the table. This truss consists of two legs 2l connectedl by cross-rods 22 and an axle 23 having rubber tired wheels 24. The upper ends of the legs are bifurcated at 25 to fit over and upon the.

hinged meeting-bars 26 ofl the table-sections and make a rm connection therewith, as a blnder `for the two bars, so that they rest solidlyin the bifurcations of the legs. Braces 27 pivotally connected to each leg are adapted to be sprung into sockets 28 screwed into the inner sides of the frame-bars 1, and for this purpose these braces have pins 29, which, by the spring action of the braces, are sprung into the sockets and securely held therein. This spring holding function of the braces. is given by the bend in the braces themselves as shown in Fig. 5, or otherwise, so that they may be easily removed from the sockets in removing the truss-frame. When secured these braces co-operate with the bifurcated ends of the legs to hold them upon the board, meeting-bars 26.

.To render safe the connection of the legs with the meeting bars, I providesuitable positive fastening devices, as shown, such devices being a clamp 30 pivoted to the leg So as to have an eccentric binding action upon the side of the meeting-bar as seen in Figs. and 7, and operated by a handle, so as to be forced into clamping position by the foot, or bythe hand. These provisions of the clamp-devices and of the springbraces, permit of the convenient and quick attachment of thewheeledtruss to convert the table into a church-truck and when so used the truss-frame will mainly support the weight, as its noiseless wheels run on a plane a little below that of the'casters, so that the truck can be slightly tipped to run on the front or the rear casters and the truss-wheels, easily and smoothly.

To make the braces safe as jointed struts I make the end of one of the brace-sections at the joint 6 with a tongue 3l adapted. to enter a slot 32 in the end of the other section at the joint and I provide the end of the tongue with a spring-catch 33 adapted to enter the slot and clip overits end on the under side of the brace at the joint as seen in Fig. 9, and thereby serve to lock theknuckle-joint of the brace, and prevent its accidental flexure at the joint. The clamps for the trucktruss and the spring-catches for the jointedbraces, serve by the action of each to render the truck safe in supporting the body and in moving it into and out of the church; while as a laying-out board, the spring-catches give safety to the braces in holding the legs. To Hex the brace the spring-catch is released by pressing it into the slot against the end of the tongue.

I claim as my improvement- 1. A truck-truss having legs bifurcated at their upper ends, and connected by cross-rods and the axle of the truck-wheels, braces connecting said legs and clamping-jaws pivoted to the bifurcated ends of the latter, the said truck-truss being adapted by its bifurcated legs, clamps and braces, as an attachment for funeral directors church-truck and pallboard, substantially as described.

2. In a funeral directors church-truck and pall-board, the combination, With the hinged board sections, each section having sockets 28 on its inner sides, hinged folding-legs and hinged folding-braces, of an attachable truck-truss having legs bifurcated at their upper ends adapted to embrace the meetingbars of the hinged boardfsections, clamps pivoted to the said legs at their bifurcated ends adapted to engage and bind the legs to said meeting-bars, and spring-braces pivoted to said legs and adapted to engage the sockets of said board-sections, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the hinged boardseotions, each having surface recesses at its side edges and sockets at each corner, of canopy supporting posts having slots and pivoted within said corner-sockets said sockets adapted to receive. the endsof the posts when in operative position and said recesses adapted to receive the posts lengthwise when in inl operative relationsubstantially as described.

4. The combination, with the hinged-board sections, each having surface recesses at its side edges and sockets at each corner, of canopy-supporting posts having slots and pivoted within said corner-sockets for rigid vertical adjustment therein and spring-pins for securing said posts when folded within their receiving edge recesses, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the hinged board sections, of an adj ustable head-section pivoted within the board and having a longitudinal middle opening forming a divided back supportand having an extensible head-resttted to slide in said opening, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the hinged board sections, and the hinged leg-frames, of the jointed hinged-braces provided at their joints with tonguesou one part and co-acting slots on the other part, the tongue of each joint j having a spring locking-catch adapted to engage the slotted part for preventing the accidental ilexure of the brace, as described.

7. A funeral directors church-truck, consisting of a board of hinged sections, having hinged folding-legs, hinged folding-braces of IOO jointed sections provided with spring lockmy signature in the presence of two subscribing-catches at the joints, and a truck-truss ating witnesses. taehrnent having braces and clamps adapted tosecure the truck to the meeting-bars and f NOAH T SHAW' 5 sides of the hinged-sections,substantiaily as In presence ofdescribed. A. E. H. JOHNSON,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set N. CURTIS LAMMOND. 

